Maureen McTeer (Chair) is a Canadian lawyer, rights advocate, and bestselling author. A pioneer in health law, reproductive policy, and human genetics, she served as an original member of Canada’s Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies and has held leadership roles with numerous national and international organisations, including the Global Commission on Pollution, Health and Development and the Canadian Bar Association’s Eastern and Central European Legal Programs. She has also lectured on health and medical law at universities across North America and is the author of five bestselling books. Her contributions to public policy, gender equality, health advocacy, and the legal profession have been recognised with numerous honours, including her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2025.
Riel Bellegarde is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT), one of Saskatchewan’s four accredited and legislated post-secondary institutions, where he has helped foster Indigenous student success, entrepreneurship, and innovation. A proud member of Treaty Four and the Peepeekisis First Nation, he has dedicated his career to advancing Indigenous education, socio-economic development, and opportunities for Indigenous youth and communities. Before joining SIIT in 2013, he spent 23 years in the federal public service, most recently serving as Regional Director General at Indigenous Services Canada.
Aimée Craft is a professor at the University of Ottawa and an internationally recognised lawyer of Anishinaabe-Métis and settler descent, specialising in Indigenous legal traditions, treaties, and water governance. A former Director of Research for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, she holds a University Research Chair in Indigenous water governance. She was named one of Canada’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in 2016 and received the Canadian Bar Association President’s Award in 2021. She currently serves on the Speaker’s Bureau for the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba and continues to support international collaboration on transformative memory in colonial contexts.
Justin E. Kingston is a bilingual lawyer and partner at McCuaig Desrochers LLP, with experience in corporate and commercial law, wills and estate planning, estate administration, real estate, and employment disputes. He currently serves as President of the Fédérations des associations de juristes d’expression françaises de common law and has volunteered with the Edmonton Community Legal Centre, providing legal information for individuals facing estate, tenancy, and employment law issues. A dedicated educator, he also serves as a session lecturer at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law and is a frequent presenter for the Legal Education Society of Alberta and other community groups.
Marie-Pierre Lavoie is a certified English-to-French translator who began her career in 1991 as an in-house translator for an aviation company before transitioning to freelance work in 1995. From 2007 to 2010, she managed all translation operations for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver. She has played a leadership role in Francophone education and community organisations in British Columbia, including as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique, President of the Board of the Commission nationale des parents francophones, and a board member for the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada.
The Honourable J. Michael MacDonald has served as counsel at Stewart McKelvey since 2019, following a distinguished career on the bench. He was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in 1995 and Associate Chief Justice in 1998. In 2004, he became Chief Justice of Nova Scotia and Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. A member of the Canadian Judicial Council for 20 years, he has chaired several of its committees, most recently the Judicial Conduct Committee. He was invested into the Order of Nova Scotia, is a Member of the Order of Canada, and has received honorary degrees from Cape Breton University and Mount Allison University.
Justin Robichaud, K.C., is a founding partner at Fidelis Law, a law firm in Moncton, New Brunswick, where he specialises in personal injury and insurance law litigation. He has appeared before all levels of court in New Brunswick. In 2021, his contributions to the profession were recognised with his appointment as King’s Counsel. A former President of both the New Brunswick branch of the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of New Brunswick, he currently serves as Vice-President and President-elect of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. He has also served as a sessional lecturer at the Université de Moncton. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration as well as a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), and was admitted to the New Brunswick Bar in 2011.
Laura Spitz is an internationally recognised Canadian legal scholar and academic leader who currently serves as Dean and Professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law. She is also a regular visiting professor at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne Law School. Her career has included leadership roles at Cornell University and Seattle University, as well as teaching appointments at the University of New Mexico, the University of Colorado, Emory University, Thompson Rivers University, and the University of Ottawa. In addition to her academic career, she clerked at the Supreme Court of British Columbia and practised corporate commercial law – including First Nations Economic Development law – in Vancouver.